


Blue Paladin

by thesatanistauthor



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Crying, Happy Ending, Langst, M/M, Sad, appreciate lance damnit, breakdowns, galra soldier lance, god damnit it im sorry, hey happy ending at least, just lots of crying, klance, klangst, lowkey fluff, mental issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-12
Updated: 2017-06-12
Packaged: 2018-11-13 09:49:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11182407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesatanistauthor/pseuds/thesatanistauthor
Summary: "There is no Voltron without Lance, whether you like it or not."When Lance gets captured on a mission by the Galra, everyone assumes he's dead. Everyone but Keith.





	Blue Paladin

**Author's Note:**

> I hope this is good lol I'm sorry I'm evil I wrote this in like 3 hours so it's probably not good at all.
> 
> Also I have an instagram, which is @blueepaladin, and I cosplay! Yes, I cosplay from Voltron. Go give a follow if you're interested, and message me if you follow me because of this!

It had been over a month since Lance was captured by the Galra enemy, and the Paladins had practically given up on finding him. There was no sign of him anywhere. The Galra had destroyed his suit, meaning there was no way of tracking him. Blue wouldn't respond to anyone, she was being so incredibly stubborn. But deep down she knew that Lance was still out there, and still alive, so she would accept no new paladin.

Keith hadn't give up though. He knew that Lance was out there and was still alive. Lance wasn't the type to just give up and let himself die. He would fight to the end.

Little to everyone's knowledge, Lance was still very much alive. Very much alive, and very much fighting on the enemies side. That's right; Lance was a Galra soldier. Never in his life did Lance know he'd end up in such a situation as this, but here he was, one of the most respected sharp shooters on the team.

After he'd been captured by Haggar, they put him through a series of tests. Not one broke him. Even messing with his thoughts didn't do anything; He was already too used to these negative thoughts that it didn't effect him now. Haggar saw the potential in him- the potential the other paladins didn't see- and offered him a place to fight with the Galra.

He didn't even hesitate to accept.

On this team he felt truly wanted and appreciated for who he was and what he could do. The other Galra soldiers respected him, and even came to him for tips on how to fight better. You know, those Galra guys aren't as bad as Allura made them out to seem. Infact, they can be quite fun to hang around and joke with. Maybe why that's why Lance felt so at home. They felt like his family.

Allura and Coran had called the four paladins to have a meeting; not being able to form Voltron was a major problem in this fight against Zarkon, and they had to convince Blue to let someone pilot her at some point, or they were all doomed. This truly wasn't like Blue, she'd always been willing to let others pilot her when Lance was around. Now that he wasn't, she'd shut herself out from the others and refused to move.

"Paladins, I'm glad you're here." Allura spoke as she sat at the head of the table, letting out a low sigh. Everyone was looking at her, wondering on what she was planning.

"Princess, what is this all for?" Shiro asked, resting his arms on the table in front of him. Pidge and Hunk nodded in agreement with their fellow paladin. Keith stayed silent, his gaze averted from the others.

"I'm sorry to say this, but it is a high chance we won't be getting Lance back. It's been too long for him to still be alive. We must replace the blue paladin." She said it with no hesitation, and Keith couldn't help but scoff, catching everyones attention.

"Lance wouldn't just give up on us like that, and you know it. I wouldn't be surprised if Lance actually joined the Galra. No one here cared for him or appreciated him for who he was, isn't that right, _Princess_?" Keith sneered, drawing out the word 'Princess', shocking everyone.

"Keith, there is no need for this." Shiro's tone was calm yet stern, warning Keith to zip it and sit down. But Keith is Keith, and a simple stern tone wouldn't be enough to stop him.

The red paladin slammed his hands down on the table as he rose from his seat, his brows knitted together in anger. "None of you believe me when I say he's still alive! You don't even care about Lance, do you? None of you ever did!"

"Of course we cared, we still do. It's just-"

"It's just what, Hunk? Let me all remind you of how much you belittled him and put him down. Pidge, you constantly blew of his jokes and told him to shut it, that it wasn't important. Did you not see how his humourous side died? Shiro, you never once complimented him on how he fought, always dismissing saying he could have been faster or done it more accurately. Hunk, you never spent any time with him. You just left your best friend to suffer in silence. Allura, you were just like Shiro. It was always 'Be more like Keith!' or 'Be more like Shiro!'. Did you not all see how much you destroyed him?!" Keith was yelling by the end of his rang, his face red, steam practically bursting out his ears. They all looked incredibly guilty, but as usual, Allura once again dismissed the matter.

"We have no time to think about that. We must learn to form Voltron without Lance." She spoke harsh and the words cut right through Keith.

"There is no Voltron without Lance, whether you like it or not," The paladin turned on his heel and headed towards the door, stopping as he got to it and turned back to the others, seeing their heads all hung low in shame and guilt. "Don't consider me a part of Voltron until we find Lance either. Unlike you lot, I never gave up on him."

-

Lance was cleaning up his gun, a few of his fellow soldiers sat around him, the lot of them just having a simple friendly chat.

"So Lance, how come you left Voltron?" One of the soldiers spoke up, silencing everyone else around him. Lance looked up from his gun, a sad sort of smile on his face.

"Well originally Haggar captured me, but she said I said I had potential to become a great soldier, so here is where I ended up." Lance went back to cleaning his gun, his fellow Galra soldiers murmuring between themselves for a short while.

"She wasn't wrong about you. You truly are one of the best soldiers I have ever seen. Does Voltron have any weaknesses at all? It'd be valuable information." Another one spoke up, everyone falling silent once again. This time Lance put his gun to the side, letting out a long, exaggerated sigh.

"No. I'm being totally honest too. You could try everything with them lot but they are so trained into battle that it won't affect them. Everything we did was just about defeating Zarkon and the Galra that we never really had time for anything else. We were worked to the bone and it was hell," Lance paused, his mind flashing back to the times he was in the castle, his fellow paladins ignoring his witty banter and stupid jokes, being told that he was a distraction. "I miss them sometimes, but I almost feel like I belong here now. You guys feel more like a family to me. You accept me for who I am, not who you want me to be."

The Galra soldiers nodded and smiled at the human soldier, before going back to what they needed to do. Lance finished cleaning up his gun and straightened out his bed covers ever so slightly. After a short while he left the room, walking around the dark, dimly lit halls of the ship. He said hello to all he passed, eventually wandering to where he wanted to go. He opened the door with a small sigh, stepping into the room where Haggar was creating some new sort of weapon for Zarkon, considering his last few had been completely destroyed by Voltron.

"Lance, what brings you here?" Her attention never left her work, yet she still but the small time aside to listen to Lance. He often came to Haggar just to talk about things, like life back on earth or life back on the castle. She listened to him no matter what she was doing, and she slowly became like a mother figure to him. A figure he so dearly missed in his life.

"The usual. That weapon is coming along beautifully." Lance discarded his thoughts to the side, stepping up next to where Haggar was bent over the table, blue prints scattered everywhere.

"Thank you. Now Lance, I need you to-"

Haggar was interrupted by a loud explosion, the ship shaking from the impact. Sirens blared throughout the ship, signalling that all soldiers need to be ready to battle. Lance was quickntonrush back to his quarters, grabbing his gun and very swiftly changing into his Galra armour. He very well knew that this would be Voltron attacking; he wondered whether anyone would even realise. He wondered if anyone still truly cared about him. Lance ran down the empty halls of the ship, preparing to get to his station, when all of a sudden he ran into someone. Honestly he expected it to be a fellow soldier, but that was not the case here.

-

Keith rushed ahead onto the Galra ship before anyone else. He wanted revenge on these bastards for taking Lance away from Voltron; for taking Lance away from him. It was no secret to the others the Keith really did have strong feelings for his fellow paladin, but he neve rknew how to express them, so it just came out as anger towards him. He'd already taken out a few soldiers, and was now running down the strangely empty halls of the enemy ship. It was dimly lit, making it hard to see where he was going. As he was runbibg, his mind went back to that time where he and Lance truly sat and talked for once.

_Keith had been wandering the halls of the castle late at night, unable to sleep due to his over active brain. It was a usual thing for Keith to do, one lap around the castle was usually enough to knock him out for the rest of the night._

_On this one night though, on his nightly round, he passed Lance's room. As he passed, he heard a sniffle echo from inside. The sound stopped him in his tracks, and he soon found himself knocking on his friends door, wondering if Lance was okay._

_After a short while, the door opened to reveal a teary eyed Lance, who was wuick to wipe at his eyes and nose as he looked at Keith, brows furrowed together in confusion._

_"Come to mock me?" Lance sniffled, wiping at his eyes with the back of his hand. Keith was shocked to see Lance in such a blue state (no pun intended) , as he always seemed so happily and bubbly. He shook his head and rested a hand on the door, worried about the mental wellbeing of his fellow paladin._

_"No, of course not! Lance, what's wrong?" Keith asked, his only answer being when Lance grabbed his arm and dragged him into his room. The blue paladin closed the door behind the two, before sitting himself on his bed and hiding his face in his hands._

_"I'm a failure!" He sobbed, his cries muffled by his hands. It broke Keith's heart into a thousand and one pieces seeing Lance in such a terrible state. He was never one who was good at dealing with emotions, but he would try his best for Lance. He sat beside his sobbing friend and wrapped an arm around his waist, tugging Lance into his side. Lance was soon sobbing into Keith's shoulder instead of his arms, but his sobs seemed to quiet down at this. As long as it made Lance feel better, then Keith didn't mind at all._

_"You are anything but that, Lance. You're incredible, believe me. I'm so sorry you aren't treated as fairly as the others. You did amazing out there today, you saved us all multiple times, yet no one can see that." Keith mumbled, letting Lance cuddle into his side. This feeling was nice, and it genuinely made him smile, knowing that he was actually able to help someone for the first time._

_"You really think so?" Lance muttered, lifting his head from Keith's chest, his cheeks tear stained and flushed. Keith nodded, lifting his hand to wipe underneath Lance's eyes, clearing his skin of dried tears. Lance smiled softly as Keith, once again cuddling back into his side. Keith just held Lance, never wanting to let go of him. He never wanted to see Lance like that again, it was heart wrenching. After a short while of silence, Lance turned to look at Keith, a slight blush on his cheeks. He placed a gentle, warm hand on Keith's cheek, and slowly began to close the gap between the two, and the two were soon-_

Keith ran smack bang into someone, knocking them both to the floor with a thud. Keith groaned as he sat up, and upon seeing the armour of a Galra, he was swift to manoeuvre himself so he had the Galra soldier pinned, his blade held up against the throat of the soldier. His heart was thumping in his chest, and his breathing was erratic. How could he let his mind wander like that? How could he left himself distracted? He could have gotten himself killed, and yet here he was, straddling a Galra soldier, a blade pressed up against the enemies neck.

"Wait!" The soldier raised his hands from his side, wrapping his fingers around Keith's small wrist and managing to pry his hand away. He sat himself up, and Keith was quick to shuffle back from where he had been perched on the enemies lap. Why had this soldier told him to wait? Why did he obey?

Because he recognised that voice.

He thought he was simply hearing things, a sat there on the floor of the ship, his mind racing with thoughts. Was this really who he thought it was? Was it really him? Was he really still alive and... fighting for the enemy?

The Galra solider slowly lifted his hands and placed them on his helmet, cautiously taking his helmet off with a relieved sigh. Keith couldn't believe his eyes.

There, sat right in front of him, was none other than Lance.

  
"Lance?" Keith breathed, furrowing his brows and narrowing his eyes at him. Lance simply discarded of his helmet to the side and laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.

"Hi, Keith." Lance tried to avoid his friends gaze, he felt incredibly guilty all of a sudden. They both sat in a silence for a short while, before Keith threw himself at Lance, tackling him to the floor in a tight and desperate hug. Lance was quick to tightly secure his arms around Keith's waist, holding him tightly, never wanting to let him go again. Everything was silent, apart from Keith's muffled sobs into Lance's shoulder.

"Lance, you're alive, oh my God you're alive!" Keith rushed as he sat himself up again, helping Lance up in the process. This time he didn't care that he was still sat in Lance's lap, because this time around he knew it was him, and not some random Galra soldier.

"Yes Keith, I'm alive." Lance chuckled lowly as he was engulfed in yet another hug, Keith's arms wrapped around his neck. It was short lived this time around, as the red paladin was quick to ask questions.

"Where have you been? Why didn't you come back? Do you hate us? Are they forcing you to fight?" Keith had never looked so worried about someone in his entire life. It was believed Lance was dead and yet here he was, alive and well.

"Now isn't the time to talk about this." Lance admitted, his hands still rested on Keith's waist. Keith frowned, but nodded in agreement anyways, before climbing off of his friends lap and standing back up. He helped Lance up too, before grabbing his bayard from where it had fallen.

"Are you going to come back?" Keith asked quietly. Lance sucked in a sharp breath, averting his gaze from Keith. He didn't know... Should he go back?

"Keith, I..." Lance began, but trailed off. He had no ready excuse.

"Do you want to come back?" Keith asked, his voice still low and quiet. Deep down, Lance really did want to come back. He missed everyone, he missed Blue. Yet at the same time, he couldn't just up and leave. He'd made friends; a whole other family. Could he just leave them and go back to a life where he wasn't happy? "We miss you."

Lance's face turned into a frown, and he took a step back, shaking his head at Keith's false words. "No you don't. You never even bothered to search for me."

"Believe me, we tried. After a week everyone gave up, but I never did. They pressumed you were dead. I tried to convince them otherwise. Please come back." Keith was practically begging Lance at this point, and he couldn't say no to this opportunity. If he didn't like it, he could always leave again, right?

"Fine. But if I don't feel accepted, I will gladly leave. This time, I'll bring Blue with me."

-

The two sat and waited in the castle as the other paladins finished off what they needed to do. Lance had never been this terrified- even when the Galra took him- as he didn't know how everyone else was going to react to him. Keith could tell he was nervous, as he was tapping his foot on the ground and constantly sighing.

"It will be fine." Keith rested his hand on Lance's knee with a reassuring smile, but it didn't calm the nerve in him at all.

It seemed to take forever, but soon enough the nervous silence was broken by the sigh of the door opening, and the chatter of the other paladins and Allura.

"Now, we must find someone to replace the Blue Paladin-"

"Uh, Princess?" Hunk interrupted Allura, and was staring straighg at Keith and Lance. Everyone else soon saw where Hunk was staring, and none of them could believe what they were seeing. There, on the castle floor, was Keith and Lance. No one said anything what so ever. The look on Keith's face screamed anger and 'I told you so.'

Lance looked absolutely heartbroken, knowing that he was being so easily replaced in Voltron. Keith was almost silently warning everyone to stay back from Lance, none of them deserved to come near him at all. They abandoned him and gave up on him, why should they even get the chance to look at him again?

  
"Lance, you're- You're-"

"Alive? Yeah, surprise." Lance sneered, refusing to look at anyone in the group infront of him. How dare they.

"I can't believe this!" Coran shouted with excitement, rushing over to greet the lost paladin. However, Keith was swift to stop him, blocking him from even getting near Lance.

"Keith, let him through." Shiro demanded, and he could tell that Shiro was slowly losing his patience with him. But he would let no one touch his Lance or harm him ever again. Emotionally or physically.

"Why should I? None of you deserve to come near Lance, none of you deserve to even be in the same room as him!" Keith yelled, pushing Coran back, rushing back over to stand over Lance. "You all abandoned him and couldn't wait to replace him as the blue paladin! God, he means nothing to any of you, does he?!"

"Keith, please stop." Lance whimpered, hiding his head in his hands, the rush of the moment over whelming him conpletely.

"Lance, I'm not letting them hurt you again. I won't, I promise." Keith mumbled as he knelt beside Lance, resting a gentle hand on his knee.

"The Galra cared more about me than this damn team does."

Lance said nothing else, he only got up and rushed out the room, roughly pushing through the group infront of the door to get to his lion. He would stick by his word. No matter what the consequences may be this time around.

"Are you all happy with yourselves now?" Keith's tone was eerily quiet, and he two pushed through the group, hot on Lance's trail. He was not about to lose Lance again.

-

Keith was sprinting down the halls, trying to find just where Lance was. Eventually he found him, and called his name to catch his attention. Lance ignored him and carried on walking, picking up the pace ever so slightly.

"Lance, wait!" Keith called out, his chest hurting from lack of oxygen. He had never sprinted this much before and his body wasn't used to this kind of stamina. His legs were burning from running, and he soon tripped over his own feet, falling to the ground for the second time that day. The paladin let out a defeated sob as he lay on the ground, not being able to move himself.

Lance stopped and turned, his heart aching at the sight of Keith on the floor. He glanced back over his shoulder, letting out a sigh before rushing over to Keith's side and kneeling next to him. Keith was full on sobbing on the floor, having given up on trying anymore. Who knew that Keith even had a side like this, which showed just how broken and vulnerable he truly was?

With a strained sigh, Lance managed to lift Keith up from where he was sobbing on the floor and pull him into his embrace. Keith almost automatically fell into Lance's arms and let himself fall apart, clinging onto Lance with every inch of stamina he had left.

"Don't leave, please. Don't leave, Lance. Don't leave me, not again." Keith cried out, his cries somewhat muffled by the fact his face was buried into the crook of Lances neck. Lance hushed Keith and reassuringly rubbed his back, helping the distraught paladin calm down to the point where he was able to catch his breath and come to his senses.

"Keith, I'm not welcome here anymore. I have to leave. They're replacing me." Lance sighed out, still holding Keith tightly, worried that he may start up again if he was to loosen his grip.

"They're just shocked, give them time. They truly do miss you Lance. Especially me, I'm not having you leave! I refuse!" He shouted, his voice echoing off the empty walls of the castle.

"I'm sorry. My mind is already made up. I told you, they're replacing me."

Keith sniffled as Lance stood up, leaving him sat on the floor. Keith wathed as Lance began to walk away again, and he managed to push himself to his feet, despite being wobbly. The paladin had never been one to give up, and he sure as he'll wasnt going to give up on Lance like the others had. "Then they're going to have to replace me too."

Lance stopped dead in his tracks and turned sharp on his heel to face Keith. "No, no way. Not an option Keith. You're staying. Voltron needs you."

"What, and they don't need you? Lance, we haven't been able to form Voltron without you! Blue won't let anyone even remotely near her, she misses you and she knew you were still alive. She never gave up on you. Do you know how much quieter and boring this damn place has been? No one laughs or smiles anymore. No one cracks jokes. I've heard Hunk crying his poor heart out over you. None of us wanted to believe you were dead. We tried for ages to find you again. It was Allura who told us to give up. They obeyed her orders, I did not," Keith stopped and took in a dee breath, calming himself before continuing on with his little emotional monologue. "We all miss you incredibly Lance. We need you to stay. I need you to stay. You mean everything to me and I'm not about to loose you again. We're falling apart with out you. I'm not about to let someone I love so dearly just slip out of my grasp again."

Lance let out a deep sigh and squeezed his eyes shut for a brief second, before shooting a teary grin towards Keith. Soon enough, Lance has ran back over to Keith and had him scooped up in his arms, embracing him with all his might. After a short while Lance placed Keith back on the ground with a relieved sigh, holding the shorter boy close to him. "The feeling's mutual."

Keith's wide toothy grin said it all for Lance, and without a second thought Keith grabbed Lance's cheeks and pressed his lips against Lance's in a sweet, desperate kiss. Lance didn't hesitate to kiss back, his hands still rested on Keith's slender hips as they melted into each other.

"Lance?! Keith?! Where are- Jesus fucking Christ!" Pidge's voice echoed through the halls, as did foots steps. The two parted and looked over to where Pidge was standing, Hunk, Shiro, Allura and Coran all staring wide eyed at the two, who had just been locking lips two seconds previously. They all let out a relieved laugh and Lance hugged Keith close to his chest with a thankful sigh, the two happy to be in each others arms again.

Things eventually sorted themselves out, and everyone sat and talked about the events over the past month. Lance finally spoke up about how he felt on this team, and everyone finally got all their worries off their chest in a tear filled confession time. That night they all fell asleep together in the foodhall, cuddled up to one another.

A strong bond is one that simply can't be severed:

**Author's Note:**

> http://archiveofourown.org/works/11562147
> 
> This amazing writer wrote an alternative route where Lance stays with the Galra. Please go and read it, it's really amazing!!!


End file.
